SONGS from the ACID FOLK by SONJA KRISTINA on Market Square

SONGS FROM THE ACID FOLK by SONJA KRISTINA on Market Square

FROM the heady Phantasmagoria days of Curved Air, Sonja, has been of my favourite female singers and Market Square has rescued this 1990 album that followed a brief Curved Air reunion and comes complete with three bonus tracks including her stripped down acid-folk version of the classic Curved Air hit single Back Street Luv.

The flip side to the release of her solo version as a single was Colder Than a Rose which is also included on the album with its stunning fiddle break and vocals.

Sonja embarked on an eventful solo career following the demise of Curved Air in 1976, including touring with her own bands, and performing in several plays and musicals on stage and TV.

A reminder of that is provided by bonus track Free To Be Me with its lovely vocals and violin, taken from the harrowing 1988 play about a schizoid girl.

The band musicians on this album are brothers Tim and Simon Whitaker with friends Ali McKenzie on cello, Paul Sax on violin and Honk on bass.

Advice to a recovering addict is provided on the opening Anna which was also a single together with the hot workout on Devil May Care with its blazing fiddle.

The only other Curved Air song, revisited is the ethereal Melinda More or less while the vocals rage on Man He Colour

Steel band percussion plays on This is Not a Sanctuary and on One to One; tiger roars prowl through Who Was Hunter, and Rollercoaster catchily relentless.

Bucaneer a swashbuckling time traveller tale and Citadel which closed the original album is a minor epic.

The album's other bonus track is Penumbra sunk in echo with a cello full of delicate melodrama. An album worth rescuing, it’s ideal sunset festival day music. Barry Jones (Sleeve was published)